different between bawdy vs smutty

English

Etymology

bawd +? -y.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?b??di/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?b?di/
• Rhymes: -??di
• Homophone: body (in accents with the cot-caught merger)

Adjective

bawdy (comparative bawdier or more bawdy, superlative bawdiest or most bawdy)

1. (obsolete) Soiled, dirty. [from 14th Century]
2. Obscene; filthy; unchaste. [from 15th Century]
3. (of language) Sexual in nature and usually meant to be humorous but considered rude.

Derived terms

• bawdily
• bawdiness
• bawdy house

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “bawdy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

English

Etymology

From smut +? -y. Related to German schmutzig (“filthy, dirty, smutty”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sm?ti/

Adjective

smutty (comparative smuttier, superlative smuttiest)

1. Soiled with smut; blackened, dirty.
   • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage 1993, p. 62:

     She caught up the corner of her skirt and lifted the smutty coffee-pot from the stove.

2. Obscene, indecent.
   • Episode 12, The Cyclops

     And what was it only one of the smutty yankee pictures Terry borrows off of Corny Kelleher. Secrets for enlarging your private parts.

   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter XI, p. 178, [1]

     Prayter said with a smile to the faces looking down, "Rilly—this train's a joke, isn't it!"

     A wag yelled, "Yes—a smutty one!"

     With raucous laughter in his ears, the parson turned and looked for Lace, feeling rather lonely.

3. Affected with the smut fungus.

Translations

Verb

smutty (third-person singular simple present smutties, present participle smuttying, simple past and past participle smuttied)

1. (transitive) To make dirty; to soil.